THE past 20 races have highlighted two things when it comes to André Heimgartner.
One, that qualifying has become a problem for the #8 R&J Batteries-backed Brad Jones Racing Camaro.
And two, that the Kiwi is a master in race trim – i.e. his ability to manage tyres, navigate carnage and scythe his way forward.
Despite having qualified inside the 10 for just three of the past 20 races – he’s had a grid slot of 20th or worse on eight occasions in that span – Heimgartner has remained a fixture inside the Supercars finals bracket.
He holds eighth entering the Ryco Enduro Cup, for which he’ll again be joined by 2022 Super2 champion Declan Fraser.
Not content to rest on his laurels, Heimgartner felt some questions got answered during the Queensland Raceway test on Tuesday.
“It was well overdue for us just to try and get some answers to some things,” he said.
“So you never want to say that you’ve fixed anything, or you’ve made great progress, because often things don’t translate. You sort of jinx yourself.
“But I think it’s been a good day to work through a few questions we’ve had, along with going through everything in the next couple of weeks with the car and different things, I feel like we’ve set ourselves up nicely for the enduro season, and Declan’s done a good job and been pretty speedy.”
For his part, Fraser assessed: “I felt comfortable straight out the gate, so credit to the boys and girls what they did over the weekend to get it to that point. So for us, moving forward it’s head down for enduro season.
“André’s fighting for a finals position at the moment, so I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that he makes it.”